Explore Sand Canyon Pueblo
Cortez, Colorado
Details
Distance
0.8 miles
Route Type
Out-and-Back
Description
Added by Jenna Mulligan
This site hosts the ruins of an important Ancestral Puebloan community, partially excavated and punctuated with educational information.
The Sand Canyon Pueblo marks the northern point of the Canyon of the Ancients National Monument, and connects south to the start of the Canyon of the Ancients Trail off Road G.
The hike from the parking lot nearest to the pueblo is only 0.8 miles, and is reached on Road N, west of Cortez, Colorado. From the southern start of Sand Canyon Trail, reaching this pueblo is a 12.4 mile round-trip hike.
The trail leading to the pueblo exits from the western edge of the parking area, and travels for a quarter of a mile before it intersects with a horseshoe shape at the site of the spring.
From there, the trail follows the exterior wall of the pueblo, with markers that elaborate on several parts of the dwellings, what they were used for, and illustrations of what they may have looked like in their original form.
The most visible remains are in the form of divots which mark where kivas were dug.
The surrounding environment is filled with fragrant sagebrush, juniper trees and red dirt.
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